Listen. Connect. Empower.

Every year I examine books as mirrors and windows with my students.  Every year I tweak the exploration and this year was no different.  This year's additions included sticky notes and reflections.   Day 1: Mirror moments Sticky notes I created with Tony Vincent's template (link below) After modeling mirror moments (and having students make "me too" signals), students identified a mirror moment from a stack of books at their table.  "This is like my sister and I.  We fight all the time." - 3rd grader "When my mom tells me to clean my room I just sit because I don't know where to start." - 3rd grader Day 2: Window moments In the next class I modeled "window moments" and we drew windows in the air when we heard moments that were "not like us."   Students identified "window moments" at their tables with sticky notes. Students shared their "window moments" through the window we passed around our sharing circl...

How can we see ourselves and learn about others in the books we read? To answer this question, my 3rd graders and I went on a multi-day journey about how books can be mirrors and windows.  Standards: AASL: Include/Create II.B.1 Interacting with learners who reflect a range of perspectives. Social Justice Standards: 7. Students will develop language and knowledge to accurately and respectfully describe how people (including themselves) are both similar to and different from each other and others in their identity groups. Day 1: Books as mirrors I introduced the concept of "mirror" books.  We read and made the "me too" signal when we had mirror moments like, "my best friend moved away too."  Day 2: Books as windows I introduced the concept of window books. We read and drew "windows" in the air when we had a window moment like, "they have mud for walls and I do not."   Day 3: Applying the thinking We applied our learning to the books we ha...

The focus of our school in November is empathy.  To prepare, I had our 1st-3rd graders look at books as "mirrors" and "windows." Day 1 I shared some mirror books with students, demonstrating how certain books: looked like me as a child. reminded me of me dancing everywhere (from Angelina Ballerina). shared my favorite food. (from Saffron Ice Cream) took place in a favorite place of mine (from Saffron Ice Cream). I asked students to find a mirror book and bring it to the rug.  I asked students to share their mirror books with us and what makes it a mirror book. My mirror book looks like me. This is a mirror book because I have fun friends. This is a mirror book because I am sneaky. This is a mirror book because my dog looks like this. After sharing, students had the option to take their book home.  Many students DID choose to take this book home. Day 2 I shared my window book (which also happened to be one of my mi...